USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 82
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ISAAC NEWTON WELLS.
One of the oldest and most highly respected citizens in Hamilton county is Isaac Newton Wells, who has been a resident of this county for more than eighty years. He has been a life-long blacksmith and farmer and identified with every measure which has had to do with the material, moral, industrial and educational advancement of the county. His efforts have been crowned with a large degree of success and today he can look back over a long career which has been filled with good work well done.
. Isaac Newton Wells, the son of Isaac and Mary ( Barker) Wells, was born October 12, 1832, in Morgan county, Indiana. His father was born in 1798 in Randolph county, North Carolina, the son of Isaac and Mary (Beeson) Wells. The family have been members of the Friends church for several generations, seemingly having allied themselves with the church shortly after its organization. The father of Isaac Newton Wells was twice married in North Carolina, his first wife being Mary Pounds. She died leaving one son, B. F., who died in this county in 1910 at the age of eighty- four. The second wife was Mary Barker, the mother of Isaac Newton Wells.
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About 1830 the parents of Isaac Newton Wells came from North Caro- lina to Indiana and located in Morgan county, three miles from Mooresville. They rented a farm there for two years and then moved to Hamilton county, Indiana, and entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Washington township. At that time bears, wolves, deer and all kinds of wild game were abundant in the forests: there were no roads through the dense forests and no bridges across the streams. The family built a rude log cabin in the woods in which they lived for the first few years.
The father of Isaac Newton Wells was thrice married after coming to Indiana. His second wife. whom he had married in North Carolina, died in 1840 leaving seven children : John B., Mary R., Sally Ann, Isaac Newton, Rebecca, Rachel and Jesse. The first two were born in North Carolina and the rest in Indiana. After the death of his second wife Isaac Wells, Jr., married Mrs. Hannah (Allen) Kivett, the widow of James Kivett and the daughter of William and Jane Allen. To this third union four children were born, three of whom died in their early childhood, the only one now living being Zachariah Allen Wells, a farmer of Noblesville township in this county.
After the death of his third wife Isaac Wells, Jr., married Sarah Stan- ley who died without issue in 1870. The fifth and last wife of Isaac Wells, Jr., was Mrs. Nancy (Ricks) Elder, the widow of David Elder. There were no children by the last marriage. He died April 30. 1880, and his last wife passed away in October, 1885.
Isaac Newton Wells was reared amidst pioneer conditions and received meager schooling in the subscription schools of his community. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and at the age of twenty-two was married to Ann Moore, the daughter of Mordecai and Rachel (Stubbs) Moore. The Moore family came from Preble county, Ohio. and Mordecai Moore bought a farm a mile and one-half south of Westfield, where he lived until his death in 1842, his wife passing away in 1879. Ann Moore was one of a family of nine children, Barclay, Joseph, Keziah. Rebecca, Phoebe, Elisha, Nathan, Elizabeth and Ann.
After his marriage Isaac N. Wells lived at Eagletown for the first nine months and operated a blacksmith shop in partnership with his brother and later conducted a blacksmith business at Westfield for several years. In the spring of 1869 he bought a farm of twenty-four acres, one and a half miles south of Westfield, and has lived on this farm since that time. He built a blacksmith shop on his farm and continued to work at his trade until old age prevented further strenuous physical activities. He rented out his fields
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most of the time and added to his holdings from time to time until he now has a well improved farm of ninety-four and one-half acres.
Mr. Wells and his wife were the parents of three children : Elma, Will- iam and Eva. Elma is the wife of Rufus Bond and lives in Westfield. William died at the age of two and one-half years, while Eva is now making her home with her father. The mother of these three children died March 29, 1914, and if she had lived until the following November 9th, she and her husband would have been married sixty years. She was a good wife and mother and her daughters show in their lives the influence of her excellent childhood training. As a child she showed a quickness to learn, her special talent lying in reading and spelling. It was her father's ambition to make a scholar of her, but his death when she was but a young girl made this ambi- tion impossible of fulfillment as the family was left in straitened circum- stances. However, Ann Moore made use of such opportunities for school- ing as offered. In those days the spelling school was in vogue and she was considered one of the best spellers, being able to spell correctly all the words in Walker's Dictionary, the text book then in use. In later years when she had a family of her own and the spelling of a word was in question, her decision could always be relied on. A birthright member of the Friends church, its work in all its departments was her chief interest, outside her home. She was a loyal member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and a charter member of the local missionary society, whose meetings and plan of study received her earnest cooperation. She was a daily student of the Bible finding much comfort and food for thought in its pages. When the Sabbath came. unless prevented by illness, she was always found in her place at Sabbath school. A number of years she was a teacher in the primary department, where many small boys and girls received their first instruction in the way of Sabbath school under her guidance, who have long since reached maturity. After leaving the primary work, she was elected teacher of the woman's Bible class, and continued in that relation until the organized class movement was adopted. While her life of almost four score years was uneventful, and spent for the greater part in one locality, who knows but that she fulfilled her mission in life just as completely as the one called to a wider sphere of activity.
"They who go Feel not the pain of parting : it is they Who stay behind that suffer."
Mr. Wells is now one of the oldest men of the county and a man whose
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every move is guided by an unselfish devotion to duty to his fellowmen and to his God. Kind and generous, upright and honorable in all of his dealings, Providence has prospered him and peace and plenty have come to him abundantly.
CHARLES N. BROWN.
For more than a quarter of a century Charles N. Brown has been con- nected with the farming and agricultural interests of Hamilton county, Indi- ana. He is a man who has taken an active part in the life of his community and while he has never been an aspirant for public office, yet he has always been progressive in his ideas, and been one of the leaders of his party. That he has been more than usually successful in his agricultural operations is shown by the fact that he has two hundred and thirteen acres of well im- proved land.
Charle N. Brown, the son of Lee S. and Rosa (Huffman) Brown. was born June 30, 1862, in Marion county, Indiana. His father was a native of Hendricks county. Indiana, and was a farmer all of his life in Marion and Hamilton counties. His mother was born in Marion county, where she lived all of her life. When Charles H. Brown was about two years of age his mother died, and his father afterwards married Rose Ann Butterfield, who was born near New Britain, Hamilton county. After this marriage Lee S. Brown and his family located in Clay township, Hamilton county, near the Marion county line. Lee S .. Brown later traded this farm for one near Car- mel, and from that time until his death in March, 1914. he lived near or in Carmel. For several years he conducted a livery stable at Carmel, and en- gaged extensively in the breeding of horses. Lee S. Brown was a prominent Republican and a member of the Williams Creek Christian church.
Charles N. Brown remained on the home farm until he became of age and then for two summers "worked out" as a farm hand in the immediate neighborhood. After his marriage he and his wife lived in Carmel for about three months until Mr. Brown could complete a house on his farm two miles north and one mile east of Carmel in Washington township. Mr. Brown had inherited this farm before his marriage, but there were no buildings on it and he built a small house of three rooms immediately after his marriage and moved into it the first year. Since that time he has built a large and commodious country home, and now has one of the most attractive places in the township. He has been a man of good business ability and has used
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excellent judgment in all of his transactions. When the Hamilton Trust Company was first organized as an abstract company, he became a stock- holder, and for some time was a director in the company. He has eighty acres of land in his home place, seventy-eight acres where his daughter, Mary, and her husband are living, and fifty-five acres about a quarter of a mile east of his home. He follows general farming, although he has given the larger part of his attention within recent years to live-stock raising.
Mr. Brown was married in December, 1888, to Olive Moffitt, who was born in Delaware township, Hamilton county, the daughter of J. W. and Mary (Roberts) Moffitt. J. W. Moffitt was the youngest son of Silas and Hannah (Wilkinson) Moffitt, natives of North Carolina and early settlers in this county, where they located about 1826. Mr. Brown and his wife are the parents of three children, Mary, Lois and Ralph. Mary was married on the twenty-fifth anniversary of her parents' marriage to Leland Jessup, and now lives one and one-half miles north of Carmel. Lois and Ralph are still living with their parents.
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Mr. Brown has always been identified with the Republican party, but has always preferred to devote his time and attention to his agricultural interests rather than engage in the strife and turmoil of political campaigns. The family are all consistent members of the Friends church and generous con- tributors to its support. Mr. Brown is progressive in his ideas and has always been prominent in everything pertaining to the welfare of his com- munity.
DAVID M. BROCK.
The biographies of the representative men of a county bring to light many hidden treasures of mind, character and courage, well calculated to arouse the pride of their family and of the community, and it is a source of regret that the people are not more familiar with the personal history of such men, in the ranks of whom may be found tillers of the soil, mechanics, teach- ers, as well as lawyers, physicians, bankers and members of other vocations and professions. David M. Brock is one of the leading citizens of the town- ship in which he lives, and as such has made his influence felt among his fellow men and earned a name for enterprise, integrity and honor that en- titles him to worthy notice in a work of the nature of this volume.
David M. Brock, a prosperous farmer of Noblesville township, this county, was born April 12, 1847, on the farm where he is now living. His (52)
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parents, Elijah and Frances (Greening) Brock, were natives of South Caro- lina and Kentucky, respectively. Elijah Brock was in the battle of Tippe- canoe, Indiana, the memorable battle fought by William Henry Harrison and the Indians on November 7, 1811, near Lafayette, Indiana. Upon his re- turn from that battle with a portion of the army, he passed through Hamilton county, and was very much impressed with the fertility of the soil and the general character of the land in this section of the state. At that time the Indians still owned all of the central part of Indiana, but after the land was purchased from the Indians, in the fall of 1818, he made up his mind to re- turn to this county and enter land as soon as it was opened by the United States government for sale. Accordingly, he came to this county in 1821, two years before the county was formally organized, it being at that time a part of Delaware county. He entered a tract of land now occupied by his son, David M., and here he lived the life of a farmer until his death, which occurred on February 22, 1867. Elijah Brock and wife were the par- ents of five children: John W., of Noblesville; Mrs. Molona M. Davis, of Indianapolis ; David M. : Mrs. Keziah Stanford, deceased, and Mrs. Ursula B. Hiatt, whose husband is a Methodist minister in Huntington, West Vir- ginia.
David M. Brock was given such education as the subscription schools of his day afforded, and as a youth enjoyed all the pleasures of the pioneer farmer lad of his time. He assisted with the home work on the farm dur- ing his minority, and his father dying when he was twenty years of age, he assumed the full management of the home place. On this farm is a large tree which has two holes but only one top, which attracts a great deal of attention, many persons making special visits to see it. After his marriage, in 1871, Mr. Brock remained on the farm for a short time and then went to Noblesville, where he lived for the next twenty-five years. Though re- tiring from the farm and moving into the county seat primarily for the purpose of giving his children the advantages of better educational facilities, Mr. Brock presently engaged in business in Noblesville, entering into the wholesale and retail grocery business in 1884, in which he continuel with much success for a period of twenty-five years. During this time Mr. Brock was for a time chief of the Noblesville fire department, and on one occasion during this service suffered a broken limb while going to a fire. While living in Noblesville, Mr. Brock took an active part in the civic life of the city and served on the council for many years. In 1909 he returned to his farm near Noblesville, where he has since continued to reside. He en- joys farming and is never happier than when engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Since moving back to his farm he has specialized in the raising of
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Jersey cattle and Poland China hogs, and has found this a very profitable venture.
Mr. Brock was married in December, 1871, to Mary Quick, the daugh- ter of Nicholas and Katherine (Davis) Quick, natives of Ireland and In- diana, respectively, and to this union have been born three children: Carl T., a merchant of Noblesville; A . J., a merchant of Brazil, Indiana, and Harry R., a traveling salesman.
The party which abolished slavery, elected Lincoln, Grant and Mckinley has received the support of Mr. Brock since reaching his majority. He has always taken an active interest in politics and, being a wide reader and close observer of men and events, is able to discuss intelligently the political issues of the day. He and wife are earnest and loyal members of the Chris- tian church, and give to it their active support in various ways. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, at Noblesville, and in the work of this fraternal organization he has always taken an abiding interest. Mr. Brock has acted well his part in life, and while primarily interested in his own affairs, as every man should be, yet he has not been unmindful of the interests of his fellow citizens. He has contributed to the extent of his ability to the advancement of the public good and welfare of his neighbors, and for this reason he has been a potential factor for the upbuilding of his community and the advancement of the highest and best interests of the people with whom he has mingled.
JOHN R. BROWN.
A man who can resolve vigorously upon a course of action, and turns neither to the right nor to the left, though a paradise tempt him, who keeps his eyes upon the goal, whatever distracts him, is almost sure of suc- cess. We could almost classify successful men by their various degrees of will power. Men like Coleridge, Sir James Mackintosh and many others who have dazzled the world with their brilliancy, but who never accomplished a tithe of what they promised, who were always raising our expectations that they would do wonderful deeds, but who accomplished nothing worthy of their great abilities, have been deficient in will-power. One talent with a will behind it will accomplish more than ten without it, as a thimbleful of powder in a rifle will do greater execution than a carload of powder burned in the open air. The trouble with too many men is that they burn too much of their powder in the open air and thus get but little good from it.
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One of the men of Hamilton county who is not wasting his energy in useless pursuits is John R. Brown, a prosperous farmer of Washington township. He was born in Henry county, Indiana, July 3, 1852, and is the son of McNeal and Gilla (Raleigh) Brown. McNeal Brown came to this county before the Civil War and lived here the remainder of his life. He saw service in both the Mexican and Civil Wars. He was mustered into the Mexican War January 26, 1847, from his native state and served to the end of that struggle in Company G, First Regiment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, being mustered out on July 27, 1848. He came to Indiana after the Mexican War and lived in Henry county a short time before permanently settling in Hamilton county. He enlisted in the Civil War in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served to the close of the war. He died April 1, 1895, and his wife passed away on May 20th of the following month. McNeal Brown and wife were the parents of four children : John R., Mrs. Martha Mendenhall, deceased ; Mrs. Emma J. Brown, deceased, and Maraca Ann Carey, the wife of a farmer of Washington township, in this county.
John R. Brown was educated in the country schools and later attended the union high school at Westfield for a time. He was eager to learn and was a good student in school so that he had no difficulty in getting a license to teach after finishing the course at Westfield. He taught for a couple of years but decided that he would rather farm, so he discontinued teaching and has since devoted all of his time and energy to agricultural pursuits. He has a highly productive farm of seventy-seven and one-half acres on which he raises excellent crops and high-class live stock.
Mr. Brown was married August 20, 1874, to Penina Pruitt, the daughter of Elisha and Sarah A. (Ballard) Pruitt. Elisha Pruitt was born in 1820 and died March 7, 1872. Mrs. Pruitt was born June 21, 1829. Elisha Pruitt and wife were married in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the par- ents of four children : Ella and Myrtle, deceased in infancy; Frank C., of Indianapolis, who is married and has five children: Mona R., Ross N., Bon- ner, John M. and Donnel Ernie A., who is farming on his father's farm. He is married and has two children, Roy M. and Russell E.
In politics Mr. Brown is a stanch member of the Prohibition party and is firm in his adherence to its principles and policies. He feels that the suppression and ultimate extinction of the liquor traffic will be the means of conferring a great blessing upon this country. He and the members of his family are all loyal adherents of the Friends church and liberal contribu-
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tors to its varied activities. His life has been singularly free from anything which might bring upon himself the condemnation of his fellow citizens, his every action having been in accordance with the Golden Rule.
NOAH W. SOWERWINE.
The Sowerwine family has been prominently identified with the history of Hamilton county since 1849, when John Sowerwine, the grandfather of Noah W., with whom this narrative deals, came to this county. The fam- ily trace their ancestry back to Germany, the first member of the family coming to America in order to avoid the service in the German army. The line of descent from the first member of the family who came to this country 'down to Noah W. Sowerwine is as follows: Peter, born in Germany, came to America about 1775; John, born in Virginia, 1796; William, born in Virginia, 1826, and Noah W., with whom this narrative deals, born in Ham- ilton county, Indiana, February 12, 1856.
Peter Sowerwine, the first of the family to come to America, arrived in New York about the time of the Revolutionary War, and shortly after- ward went to Virginia, where he followed the occupation of a farmer, as well as the trade of a tanner until his death. His wife, Barbara Bowers, was a native of Germany also. It is not known how many children were born to Peter and Barbara (Bowers) Sowerwine, but John, who became the ancestor of those members of the family coming to Hamilton county, . Indiana, was a son of this worthy couple.
John Sowerwine, grandfather of Noah W., was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1796, and grew to manhood in the home of his birth. His wife, Elizabeth Bowman, was born in the same county November 25, 1805, of German descent, her parents being George and Margaret (Miller) Bowman. John Sowerwine and Elizabeth Bowman were married in 1825, and in 1834 they came to Indiana and for several years resided in Wayne county, this state, moving to Hamilton county in 1849, and settling in Jack- son township, near Cicero. At the time of his coming to this township, John Sowerwine purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, thirty-five acres of which had been cleared. In addition to his farming he also followed the trades of cabinet maker and carpenter. He was first a Whig in politics and later an advocate of Republican principles. John Sowerwine died June 14, 1876, and his wife died on June IIth of the same year, her death oc- curing just three days before that of her husband. John Sowerwine and wife
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were the parents of three children, William, the father of Noah W .; Mary became the wife of Carey Hall, of this county, and George, who died at the age of four.
William Sowerwine was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, June 17, 1826, and lived there with his parents until they came to Indiana, in 1834, and settled in Wayne county. In 1849 he came to Hamilton county with his parents, and immediately after his marriage settled on a farm in jackson township, this county, where he lived until his death, November 5, 1906. He was married in 1850 to Elizabeth Gentry, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and who resided there until the time of her marriage. She was the daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Foland) Gentry, natives respectively of Virginia and Tennessee, and pioneers of Wayne county, In- diana. Immediately after his marriage William Sowerwine and his wife returned to this county from Wayne county and began life on a farm in Jackson township, where they lived the remainder of their days. They reared a large family of nine children: George W .; Amanda, who married. John L. Good; Noah W., with whom this narrative deals; John W., de- ceased; Mary E., who married Benjamin Nagle, and lives in Noblesville ; Lillie E., wife of Alfred W. Orr; Carey B .; Laura E., and Dora E., the last two named being deceased.
Noah W. Sowerwine was born February 12, 1856, in Jackson township, this county, and received his education in the schools of his immediate neighborhood. He has spent his whole life in agricultural pursuits, although he is now retired, having employed a tenant to do the active work upon the farm of eighty acres known as "Broadview," near Gray, between Carmel and Noblesville. He was married August 26, 1877, to Sarah M. Keesling, daugh- ter of Martin S. and Adeline (Moore) Keesling, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively. Sarah M. Keesling was born November 12, 1858, in Pulaski county, Indiana. Her father, Martin S. Keesling, was born April 29, 1834, and her mother, Adeline Moore, was born September 6, 1837.
Mr. and Mrs. Sowerwine are the parents of eleven children: Charles W., Alma E., Tessie P., Elbert O., Rufus H., Nellie A., Ernest L., Leo O., Ralph R., Harold K. and Mary E. Charles W. was born July 11, 1878, and is now a merchant in Noblesville; Alma E., who was born September 15. 1880, married John S. Macy, a bookkeeper in Indianapolis ; Tessie P., who was born December 6, 1881, is a milliner in Los Angeles, California : Elbert. who was born August 20, 1884, lives in Tooele, Utah; Rufus H., born December 10, 1887, is deceased; Nellie A., born March 15, 1889, is the wife of Don B. Jenkins, and lives in Noblesville; Ernest L., born July
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